Channel Island English: phonology

The Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark) are regarded as a French-speaking area in traditional dialectology, as can be seen in J. Gilliéron and E. Edmont’s Atlas Linguistique de la France (1902–1920), and also in the regional dialect atlas for Normandy, Atlas Linguistique et Ethnographique Normand (Brasseur 1980–1997). This is certainly justified, because the original language in the islands is a form of Norman French that has been spoken there for centuries. But there can be no doubt that English is the dominant language in the islands today. The number of speakers of Norman French is relatively small and constantly decreasing. Over the last 200 years, English has gained more and more influence and has gradually replaced the local Norman French dialects. Indeed, there are clear indications that they will become extinct within the foreseeable future. A detailed account of the past and present sociolinguistic situation in the Channel Islands can be found in Ramisch (1989: 5–62) and Jones (2001).

A brief look at Map 1 shows that the Channel Islands are much closer to France than to England. Alderney is just 9 miles away from Cap de la Hague in France, while Jersey is only about 15 miles from the French coast but 90 miles south of England. Therefore, it comes as no real surprise that the native language in the Channel Islands is Norman French rather than English. From a political point of view, however, the islands have been connected with England for a long time. Originally, the islands were part of the Duchy of Normandy, but after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 Duke William II of Normandy (William the Conqueror) became King of England, and the Duchy of Normandy was united with England under one ruler. Thus, 1066 is the date that first associates the Channel Islands with England and the English Crown, and this association has existed ever since. 1066 also provides the background for a longstanding joke. When asking local people whether they think that the Channel Islands belong to England they will tell you that just the opposite is true. They will point out that after all they were on the winning side in the Battle of Hastings and it was they who conquered England. The exceptional political situation of the Channel Islands really arose after the year 1204, when King John (Lackland) lost all his territories on the Continent to King Philippe Auguste of France, but the Channel Islands were not conquered by the French. As a result, they became the only part of the former Duchy of Normandy to remain in the possession of the English king, who continued to reign in the islands in his function as Duke of Normandy.

Because of their strategic importance the French repeatedly tried to capture the Channel Islands during the following centuries, but never succeeded. The islands stayed loyal to the English Crown which in turn granted them special privileges and a high degree of autonomy; to this day the islands do not belong to the United Kingdom and are not directly subject to the British Government. They have their own legislative assemblies (called States), and their own legal and tax systems, which is in fact the reason why they have become a tax haven and international centres of banking and finance.

After the separation of the Channel Islands from the Norman mainland in 1204, their political links with England at first had no far-reaching consequences. The native inhabitants, their culture and their language were Norman, keeping them in close contact with their neighbors on the Norman mainland. At a time when distances played a far greater role than today, trade with the outside world mainly took place with Normandy. On the whole, it seems that English influence in the Channel Islands during the Middle Ages was rather limited. However, the situation began to change in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, when larger military units from England were brought to the islands to defend them against the French. It was above all the tradespeople and the inhabitants of the capital towns St. Helier (in Jersey) and St. Peter Port (in Guernsey) who first came into contact with English through the soldiers stationed in the area. Furthermore, English merchants had also settled in these towns, which had developed into international trade centres.

But during the first half of the 19^th century the islands were still largely French-speaking. There is an interesting comment from the 1830s by the English travel writer Henry Inglis. He writes in a guidebook:

[...] there are certain points of interest attached to the Channel Islands, peculiarly their own [...] their native civilized inhabitants, their vicinity to the coast of France, and the general use of the French language. (Inglis 1844: 2)

Talking about Jersey, he makes clear what he means by “French language”: “The universal language is still a barbarous dialect.” (Inglis 1844: 72)

But Inglis also reports on the beginnings of a process of anglicization:

Children are now universally taught English; and amongst the young, there is an evident preference of English. The constant intercourse of the tradespeople with the English residents; and the considerable sprinkling of English residents in Jersey society, have also their effect. (Inglis 1844: 73)

English influence really started to grow after the Napoleonic wars (1815), when a larger number of English immigrants came to live in the Channel Islands. Immigration from Britain continued throughout the 19^th century. The census figures of 1891 (Census of the Channel Islands 1891: 4) reveal, for instance, that 5,844 people (or 15.5%) of the inhabitants of Guernsey and 8,626 people (or 15.8%) of the inhabitants of Jersey were immigrants from England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland. At the same time, immigration from France was much lower, namely only 2.92% in Guernsey and 10.22% in Jersey. Other factors that contributed to an increased influence of English are to be seen in the growing trade relations with England, the emergence of tourism, and improvements in communication and traffic links. For example, the introduction of steamboats played an important role. From 1824 onwards a regular service between England and the islands was established, which offered new opportunities for commerce and made it much more convenient for British tourists to visit the islands (cf. Tupper 1876: 403). Towards the end of the 19^th century a historian comments:

During the present century the English language has made vast strides both in Guernsey and Jersey, so that it is difficult now to find a native even in the country parishes who cannot converse fairly well in that tongue. (Nicolle 1893: 387)

The influence of English continued to rise during the 20^th century. The mass media, such as radio and television, brought English into practically every home. Tourism greatly increased and became a major industry. Moreover, immigration from Britain has been very strong. A high proportion of the present population of the Channel Islands are non-natives. The 2001 census figures show that 33.5% of the resident population of Jersey (total: 87,186) were born in the UK and 2.3% in the Republic of Ireland. In Guernsey 27.4% of the population (total: 59,807) originally came from the UK and 0.7% from Ireland.

The decline of the Norman French dialects has rapidly progressed over the last 100 years, and it seems certain that they will not survive as a living language. In Alderney, Norman French has already disappeared. The number of dialect speakers on the other islands has constantly decreased. The results of the 2001 census show that only 3.3% (2,874 people) of the population in Jersey still claim to be active speakers of Jersey French. About two-thirds of these speakers are in fact aged 60 and above. In Guernsey 1,327 people (2.2% of the total population) stated that they “speak Guernsey French fluently”. But most of them (934 or 70.4%) are 65 or older. A further 3,438 people (5.7% of the total population) reported that they “speak Guernsey French a little” (Census of Guernsey 2001: 109). As for Sark (total population: 550) local estimates assume that 50 people still speak Sark French.

All present speakers of Norman French are bilingual, i.e. they are also speakers of English. They are local people who live mainly in the rural areas, where they typically work as farmers, growers, fishermen or craftsmen. Moreover, the use of the Norman French dialect is limited to family members, friends and neighbors of whom the speaker knows that they are able to understand the language. It is particularly in the case of older couples where both husband and wife are dialect speakers that Norman French is still the daily language at home.

Probably the most important reason for the decline of the dialects has been their low social prestige. They have generally been regarded as an uneducated, inferior tongue spoken by ordinary people in the country and, what is more, as a corrupt form of Standard French, which is commonly called “good French” in the Channel Islands. It is revealing that before the arrival of English it was not Norman French but Standard French which was preferred in public and official domains such as in the debates of the local parliaments (States), in the courts, in newspapers or in church.